Cowboys and Injuries

In 1992 a couple of Stateside Professors undertook a study on the rather morbid subject of suicide rates across 49 Metropolitan Areas.

This was in response to concerns about unprecedented incidences of suicide in and before that decade.

It was a new direction for study as there was otherwise little or no academic data available. Would a more detailed and rational appraisal reveal a pattern to such tragic events or even provide guidance on what could be done in preventative therapy or counselling?

A student involved in the research programme, upon seeing that Nashville, Tennessee occupied the top of the league table of self inflicted deaths raised the question, perhaps initially in a light hearted manner, about whether this dubious accolade had anything to do with the association of the city with the genre of country music.

The 8 page Report on the Research was of the opinion that there was a definite link between country music and the suicide rates amongst white Americans. There was no correlation between suicide in the black population on this criteria.

The usual catalysts for suicide are well documented including marital strife or break-up, alcohol abuse or dependency ,alienation at work and the loss of a family member or much loved pet.

These standard predictors of suicide are, as anyone who has ever listened to country music will have realised , the main themes to be found in the story-boards, sentiments and lyrics of archetypal songs.

Take the following examples of real song lyrics,

"I don't know whether to kill myself or go bowling",

"If I had shot you when I wanted to I would be out by now",

"You're the reason our kids are so ugly",

"My wife ran off with my best friend and I sure do miss him"

"I still miss you baby but my aim is getting better".

"If the phone don't ring you'll know its me"

"I'm so miserable without you it's like having you here" and most poignantly,

"The last word in lonesome is me"

The release of the authoritative study did not go unnoticed in the media and in wider academic circles and the findings were argued from all positions as to their validity and provenance.

Opinions did seem to be split with other independent studies looking again at the variables which had been considered as the link between country music and suicide rates.

A 1994 piece of research concentrated on one of the most famous and successful country anthems by Billie Ray Cyruss borrowing the title of the song in "An Achy Breaky Heart may not kill you".

The original Professorial Team of Stack and Gundlach were awarded a prestigious alternative Ignoble award in 2004 for their contribution to medical research.

There is a bit of black humour in country music culture that if you play a record of a typical song backwards then your wife gives up on her affair with your best friend, you get that well deserved promotion at work, you become tee-total, re-discover the joy of life and best of all... your favourite dog comes back to your home and hearth.

There have been a number of other similar studies on music types and suicide rates which make for interesting reading.

The culture surrounding Heavy Metal appears to show an acceptability of suicide amongst the demographic youth following. What was unusually described as the Opera subculture indicated that its followers were 2.37 more times susceptible to suicide. Surprisingly, fans of the Blues genre recorded a neutral acceptability or indifference to everything.

Most worrying for the music industry is the statistic that recording artists have an increased rate at 112% of committing suicide than the normal population at large.

There has been a noticeable reduction in the morbidity and fatalism of lyrics in the output of country music in more recent years.  This could be an indication of a greater optimism or a lighter side to life. There could be the emergence of a better coping strategy for the stresses and pressures of modern living but the cynics attribute this change in direction to just keeping fans of country music alive to enable them to keep buying the records.